In art history, before the end of the eighteenth century, the
child as an independent subject matter hardly existed. The child
usually appeared symbolically or allegorically as cupid, putti,
or an angel. The child also appeared as a miniature adult as in
the depiction of young gods, kings, or, in Christianity, Jesus.
This, however was to change with the advent of the Romantic movement
in Europe. Around 1800, artists, such as William Blake, Louis Leopold
Boilly, and Phillip Otto Runge, began to have children appear as
individuals in their works, disconnected from their previous symbolic
baggage. The image of this now liberated child was one that promised
innocence, freedom, and curiosity. However, now made mortal, there
was also the necessary introduction of emotions, sexuality, and
the prospect of pain, suffering, and death.

There are a number of these earlier artists who were especially
meaningful to Helnwein in their portrayal of children. Among them
were Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) with his adoration of feminine
adolescence; Edvard Munch and his depiction of suffering and sexual
awakening; and Balthus with his preoccupation with secrets and
the erotic.

The children in these works have a knowing look in their eyes.
There was a sense of life experienced, both good and bad, which
made these works so intense and, in their own day, so controversial.
It was apparent from the reception that these artists and others
received, however, that any derivation from the most bland representation
of children as innocents was cause for violent backlash from society.
The public was then, as it is now, very uncomfortable about showing
the child as having a sexual identity, however subtle, or suffering
in any way, whether physically or emotionally. Artists like Munch
were willing to risk the wrath of propriety in seeking out this
unexplored area of human experience. For Gottfried Helnwein, it
became the major theme of his career.

Robert Flynn Johnson
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
anlässlich der Ausstellung The Child - Works by Gottfried
Helnwein, 2004